A Little Party Never Killed Nobody

[K@tie]

I'm having a fun time just reading your TR!

[weathergirl]

I am thoroughly enjoying your report! Can't wait for the rest!

[Tara Denise]

Sunday AM!

After going to bed (on the couch this time) at 4, I wake up at 6 AM, as usual. On my way to the fridge for my coconut water, I do a headcount- yay! we all made it! Married Lady is sleeping outside again, so I guess that went well the first night. I notice the Birthday Girl is on the floor...AND using her phone! Ha! I have a fellow early riser! I ask if she wants to go be half-awake by the pool with me and some coffee, she agrees. so we put on our bikinis and cover-ups and go down to Starbucks...which doesn't open until 7 AM!

It's about 6:30, so we just sit on the patio chairs outside and wait. Then, they finally open, Dirty Iced Chais in hand, we walk back to the hotel and decide to go to Boulevard Pool and then just see how everyone feels about a pool party once they're all up (spoiler alert: we're all too hung over). We get to the doors of Boulevard....which doesn't open until 8 AM!

So we just sit down and wait there, now officially "those girls" staking out the hotel pool that no one else is trying to get into. As I am mentioning that if we were a couple of hours earlier, we could've just tried to go to an after hours club, a man finally appears to unlock the doors for us and the two other people standing around. We go and spread out onto four lounge chairs at the extra shallow end of the pool (9 inches of water, that somehow one guy still thought he could try to swim in...), with a nice view and lots of sun. Then I spy the machines with daiquiri and pina colada in them behind the bar, and......they don't start serving until 9 AM! Noooooo! Foiled again! I get a cup of free water and bide my time, but you better believe that at 9:01 I had a drink in my hand.

We really had a nice time at Boulevard. There's music, but no one really dances much, it's just very chill and relaxing and the water felt great. Eventually, everyone joined us (except the Actress, who had to pack to catch her flight at 2 ), and we had a nice recharge by the pool, with some pretty decent eye candy.

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Everyone starts going back upstairs (except the Birthday Girl and the New Yorker), and we say goodbye to the Actress, then decide to get dressed to go grab some lunch before the Cowgirl has to leave. For some reason, we again decide that walking is a fantastic idea in desert heat and short dresses.

We didn't make it a block before.....

Furry-toothed creeper: Oh hi!! (puts his arm around me) Remember me?
Me: (removes his arm) ...no (continues walking)
Furry toothed creeper: Yeah you do, why you gotta act like that?
Me: we have never met. Please go away.
Furry toothed creeper: Oh yes we did! (throws arm around my waist) I met you at Tao.
Me: (smacks his hand off of me) No. You are mistaking me for someone else. Sorry. Move on.
Furry toothed creeper: Ahhhhh why you gotta be like THAT then?
Me: We haven't met. I am not interested. And also am not single.
Furry toothed creeper: Ahhh well that's alright, I don't mind a little something secret.
Me: Oh? That's good to know. Cause until my next operation, I've got a little something secret that's probably bigger than yours, if you know what I mean. (smile sweetly as he sprints away).

Anyway, we went and had lunch at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris- I had a very yummy lamb sandwich (which was surely called something fancier) and a LOT of bellinis. The Cowgirl departs () and the rest of us decide to go to the Venetian to ride the gondolas. yet another corny thing that actually turned out to be kind of fun. :-) But eventually, it's time for us to head back so the Model and I can get changed and go see Michael Jackson One at Mandalay Bay!!

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TBC!

[Hankle]

This is how a TR should be done! Love the pics!

[kman90]

lol I came back to check for more and you swapped out many of the original pics! What happened? Someone complain?
They were all in good taste, but the new ones are even better! They seem more spontaneous and not posed!
Still a great TR....good job Tara.

[Tara Denise]

lol I came back to check for more and you swapped out many of the original pics! What happened? Someone complain?
They were all in good taste, but the new ones are even better! They seem more spontaneous and not posed!
Still a great TR....good job Tara.

Haha, well someone finally sent around her pictures and I liked them better (the less posed, the more fun IMO). Plus I'm allowed to include faces so that made it easier to choose!

[Tara Denise]

More Sunday!!

Ok, so the Birthday Girl and Married Lady head off to zip-line at Freemont, the Dancer and New Yorker hit the spa, and the Model and I change clothes and go to catch a cab to Mandalay for Michael Jackson: One. We're 7th row, center, and very very VERY excited! But we are also running later than I would like (I was a theater manager in NY for 5 years, Denver for 2, so I am chronically early to all stage performances). As soon as we get to valet, we realize that the cab line is going to be tremendously messy, because things are winding down at MDC. I start to consider a limo, even though it will be way too much for just two people. But then, as if by magic (or more likely sa if he noticed the two 6 foot tall girls in heels and bandage dresses), the guy at the head of the line calls over to us "Hey! I've got an Escalade over here if you guys want to grab it!" Score!! We head over and a total MILF in a suit greets us and asks where we're headed. We tell her we need to get to the Mandalay Bay kind of fast-ish....and we pull up to the doors of Mandalay in six minutes flat. Amazing!!!

After a semi-confusing trip through will call (apparently if you buy things through Ticketmaster, your tickets are in a weird back room somewhere? And there was no clear signage about which line we were supposed to get into...but I think these are things they'll work out before opening), we have our tickets in hand! AHHHH!!!!! VERY excited! We walk over to the theater, and it's just total MJ saturation and we could not be happier. The usher's outfits have patterns that look like epulets on them, it's just..amazing. Our usher that took us down to our seats even does the Smooth Criminal walk down the stairs (the one that's kind of a slow march with with shoulders way up?). We sit down and are in total awe of the stage

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it's hard to get a great idea, all of this is moving holograms. The tabloids on the side have fake headlines kind of like the ones in the Leave Me Alone video, and the pictures are being taken of the audience members in real time by performers dressed as parazzi moving in time to "Privacy" (which is playing). They are amazing, they move really slow then bound really fast up to people and totally ge tin their face and hound them (hilariously, pissing some of them off), then move on.

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The show is just....breathtaking. Every single piece is beautiful and the only time I'm not dancing and lip-syncing along is when I'm crying because it's just soooo GOOD. I can't even get into everything, and really don't want to spoil anything, but just...go see it. If you grew up listening to Michael Jackson, if you love his music, if you even just LIKE his music- go see it as soon as you can! I've already started trying to plan another trip to see it again (hopefully to coordinate with a Jackify Tour) before I move away! I have absolutely nothing bad to say about the show. The audience is annoying in the way that audiences are (people with their phones out, recording and taking pictures instead of just ENJOYING the show and not distracting the performers, latecomers, the lady next to me talking until she felt the chill go down her spine from the death stare I'm giving), but this is seriously the best experience I have had in any theater in my entire life.

[Tara Denise]

After the show, we cut through the Mandalay and go out to the cab line at Luxor. We make it back to the Cosmopolitan pretty quickly, and everyone gets caught up while we get dressed to go out, have some drinks and help the Model pack (her flight is at 11:30 PM, and she will land at 7 AM, then go to a job at 9 AM...because she is a champion). Everyone is kind of tired, so our original plan of going from Lily to Bank is not sounding so likely. But we've got a reservation at Lily that I will pay for whether we show up or not, and I have one more dress to wear, so everyone rallies to at least grab our drinks, and then we plan on having a "slumber party" night, since the only people left are my college friends (the New Yorker, the Dancer, the Married Lady and the Birthday Girl...I know the Actress and the Model from high school and the Cowgirl from living in Colorado) and we haven't hung out as a group since graduation.

We get to Lily pretty quickly (the walk over form the East Tower to the Bellagio is no sweat at all...even with one of the moving walkway not working), and it's SO gorgeous and the vibe is exactly what we need (low key, but still fun). Our bachelorette coordinator, Nicole (who is absolutely STUNNING btw, total blonde bombshell), stops by to say hi and to let us know to text her if we want to go to Bank. And our waitress (also gorgeous), brings us our bottles and mixers.
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After a few drinks, I'm feeling pretty good.....
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So I decide we need to go and check out Bank. It's RIGHT THERE!! Birthday Girl and I decide to go "ring in" our birthdays at Bank, and then come back to Lily to close out the night with everyone. We lfigure we'll only be gone 30-40 minutes. I text Nicole to let her know we'd like to go check it out. She meets us, walks us in, and hands us drink tickets (at some point during this, I see Joey Orr and he somehow knows that Nicole is taking care of us, and I just need to reiterate here that he is the absolute nicest person ever). We go in and order drinks, dance....order more drinks....dance again....and then eventually realize that a LOT of time has gone by. Oops!!

We finish our drinks, and on our way out there is some kind of intense problem with some drunk girls that I don't know, but we are caught right in the middle of it! These girls were doing something they weren't supposed to, and security told them to stop whatever it was. And, in true train wreck fashion, they are arguing with the security guys about it. I'm trying to back out and make it abundantly clear we are NOT a part of this situation when I turn and see Forrester!! Our security guard from Friday!! I think I might've hugged him? Haha anyway, he gets us out of there, wishes us both a happy birthday, and we hustle back to Lily.

The Dancer has gone to meet up with one of her friends who dances in Zarkana, and it turns out the girls ordered us birthday food!! Yay!! So we blow out the candles and enjoy our food (and the rest of our vodka!). We ask if the waitress wants to have some cake, she happily sits and eats and hangs out with us in between helping other tables. It was all delicious and very fun! A great way to end our night out!

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We talk and decide that next trip we have to check out Bank for a longer amount of time, but we definitely want to just do bottle service there. We're spoiled brats now, standing around in GA just didn't feel right!! :-) Bank was really cool and was laying great music, if only we had more time!!!


So we head back to the room for our slumber party time...which basically consists of being naked on the terrace, listening to music, and eating microwave macaroni and cheese. The Birthday Girl decides to take a bubble bath (so the tub doesn't go to waste!), and we drunk Skype my Australian (haha fun for him since he was at work!). I have NO idea what time the Dancer gets back to te room, and NO idea what time anyone went to bed. But we all wake up relatively unscathed (and with pjs on!), and start the sad sad packing process.

The girls gift me with some "bachelorette" goodies that they bought, which I put on for exactly one picture. I'm glad they know me well enough to know I would've tossed them out if they tried to make me wear this in public.

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And then we go to check out :-(

It was a seamless process, no crazy long line, no unexpected charges, and they emailed me my receipt. The Married Lady and I head to the airport, while the Dancer and the Birthday Girl drop off their bags with bell service and then go to Wicked Spoon for some breakfast (their flights are later in the day). It is one of the saddest departures I've ever had, I NEVER love hotels this much. We are all already planning the next trip!

But wait! There are footnotes! :-) One last post to come!

[Tara Denise]

Random notes!!

- On Sunday afternoon, we stopped in one of those places that give you giant alcoholic slurpees. There was a guy who was helping the Birthday Girl figure out what size of drink she should get, and he asked us if we were from Denver (to which the Dancer replied....that's an odd question for a group of five black girls and one white one). He was really nice and the New Yorker (the short brunette aka our token white girl lol) thought he was cute!! If that was you, and you are interested, holla!! Hahaha his friends shuffled him away too quickly before we could explain that he really wasn't bothering us!

- There is a post office in the airport! Lol we learned this when we had things to mail and didn't want to pay 70 dollars to get the business center to mail postcards. I don't know if anyone else would ever wonder about this, but good information to have.

- At the airport, a guy sat across from the Married Lady and I (waiting at her gate because her flight left first) and was straight up staring and started taking pictures with his phone.....we were both dressed to fly (I was in yoga pants and a giant t-shirt, hair up in a bun...she was in sweatpants and sneaker, hair under a scarf), so unless he thought we were celebrities, I do not get what the fuck that was. And he wasn't even being SUBTLE. The camera sound effect and flash were STILL ON. It was so bad that, after we moved away from him...twice...she alerted the people working at Southwest about it so they could help her make sure he didn't sit near her! If that was you- WTF?!?! You got some 'splainin to do dude! Cause that shit was creepy!

- Thanks for all the help with my obsessive planning you guys! This site and this forum are the best thing that could ever happen to me! Vegas is 100% redeemed! :-) Hope my TR was a fun read!

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The end ;-)

[Jhaulotte]

I loved the TR Tara! The MJ show sounds awesome, you should work for their marketing department.

[kman90]

Random notes!!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2239[/ATTACH]
The end ;-)

2nd best TR pic ever...if you have to ask what this pic is, you didn't read the TR ...nice
oh and no panty lines either!

I'm liking these TR's from a woman's perspective...but it puts so much pressure on me to have an even greater time...fml! 21 days n counting!

Thanks Tara.

[Jhaulotte]

Random notes!!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2239[/ATTACH]
The end ;-)

best TR pic ever...if you have to ask what this pic is, you didn't read the TR ...nice
oh and no panty lines either!

I'm liking these TR's from a woman's perspective...but it puts so much pressure on me to have an even greater time...fml! 21 days n counting!

Thanks Tara.

I had to correct you kman

[ocam]

- At the airport, a guy sat across from the Married Lady and I (waiting at her gate because her flight left first) and was straight up staring and started taking pictures with his phone.....we were both dressed to fly (I was in yoga pants and a giant t-shirt, hair up in a bun...she was in sweatpants and sneaker, hair under a scarf), so unless he thought we were celebrities, I do not get what the fuck that was.

I think we know where those photos ended up, don't we GM people?

[Tara Denise]

- At the airport, a guy sat across from the Married Lady and I (waiting at her gate because her flight left first) and was straight up staring and started taking pictures with his phone.....we were both dressed to fly (I was in yoga pants and a giant t-shirt, hair up in a bun...she was in sweatpants and sneaker, hair under a scarf), so unless he thought we were celebrities, I do not get what the fuck that was.

I think we know where those photos ended up, don't we GM people?

I'm almost afraid to ask what that means....

[ocam]

- At the airport, a guy sat across from the Married Lady and I (waiting at her gate because her flight left first) and was straight up staring and started taking pictures with his phone.....we were both dressed to fly (I was in yoga pants and a giant t-shirt, hair up in a bun...she was in sweatpants and sneaker, hair under a scarf), so unless he thought we were celebrities, I do not get what the fuck that was.

I think we know where those photos ended up, don't we GM people?

I'm almost afraid to ask what that means....

It's an in-joke for people on the GroupMe pod - there have been some "picture issues" recently